Agoda CEO: By 2024, outbound Asian travellers will reach pre-pandemic levels
According to Omri Morgenstern, who took over as CEO of Agoda in July, the Asia-focused company anticipates that travellers from Asian nations outside of China will need around six months to travel with confidence after the corresponding COVID-19 limitations are abolished.
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By 2024, the new CEO of online travel operator Agoda predicted that Asian visitors would only gradually resume their pre-pandemic levels of travel.
According to Omri Morgenstern, who took over as CEO of Agoda in July, the Asia-focused company anticipates that travellers from Asian nations outside of China will need around six months to travel with confidence after the corresponding COVID-19 limitations are abolished.
Korea opened up two months ago, but the numbers are just 40% higher than they were, he explained.
In contrast to the greater and speedier tourism recovery in the US and Europe, Agoda's booking volumes across its Asian markets have returned to 2019 levels, although more so in domestic travel, Morgenstern told Reuters in an interview.
According to Morgenstern, "in the U.S. or Europe, it's almost like everyone decided COVID was done," noting that travel immediately resumed and many people stopped wearing masks there.
But even after the regulations were lifted, most individuals in numerous Asian nations, including Thailand, South Korea, Singapore, and Indonesia, continued to wear masks.
With the promise of more discounts, Agoda is introducing more items to enable users to arrange their complete travel itinerary on the website, Morgenstern continued.
A division of Booking Holdings Inc., the business lost 1,500 employment in 2020 to reduce spending in the face of the epidemic. He said that headcount had now reached pre-COVID levels.
